I have hearing loss in both ears, worse in the right...some may be from shooting without protection years ago (Army and Civilian), but I think most of it is from the jet engined power station used with the Pershing missile system.

I have two types/levels of background noise. One is the single ringing frequency that is accompineed by a blancking...kind of like an AGC works in an autio system...this sound comes and then slowly goes, usually of a very short diration, either ear...but when it does happen it is quite pronounced.

The other sounds I hear are weaker, but always present (unless blanked out by the "ringing"). They sound more like wind in the trees or chirping birds (bearings?) They are veriable in frequency and intensity, but always there.

Where we live it is extremely quiet (our kids say it is too quiet), but when I go to bed at night, that is when I hear the secondary sounds most pronounced. No, it isn't from wind or birds, plugging the ear does not make the sound go away,

Haven't been to an audiologist since I left the Army, but the problem was there when I left, but I do know it is getting worse as I have trouble hearing my wife, and others when they speak to me. (64 years old)

With all the noises of modern urban life, the noises in my ears are just some more background.
Lawn mowers, helicopters, dog barking, doors slamming, cars and motorcycles coming and going all hours, washing machines and dryers, tv, radio....it really isn't all that noticeable.

I wear in ears when I shoot but after for at least an hour, my girlfriend, tv, or radio sounds like a robot. (modulated) not all voice pitches do it. It's the strangest thing. I do have some hearing loss from being an audio engineer and loud concerts and playing in a loud ass band when I was younger and hated wearing ear plugs. Any one else experience this?

I'm only 19 and have a 35% hearing loss in my right, and 40% in my left. It happens faster than you think. My strong side is my right side.
If there is background noise I can't make out words at all. I used to not wear hearing protection and fire alot of 30-06 and 7.62x39 without hearing protection. Now I always wear it and I shoot alot of lighter calibers like .22 Lr and Magnum, and a bit less of the louder stuff. It was a devastating reality check to get those test results.

Was shooting the prime contribution to my loss? I don't know. Perhaps 20 years of riding street motorcycles without a helmet... didn't help.

Although I've hunted and shot most of my life, I took a roughly 20 year break from it when I got into tournament bass fishing. I hardly fired a shot during that time. What I did do was run high performance bass boats at fairly high speeds. Those outboard engines which are more or less unmuffled, AND more importantly the wind rushing over my ears, I believe did more damage to my hearing than shooting. Even back in the day, I did very little shooting without hearing protection. However I never considered the wind noise from the boat, or the racket from the soft top Jeeps I prefered during that time period.

Both ears ring about the same.

__________________For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16 (NKJV)

I lost most of my hearing from taking a drug (Indocin) that in 1% of the users destroys the little hairs in your inner ear. I had to take it for the ankylosing spondilitus (arthritus in the back) I had back then (quits when you hit 50ish) because there was no other drug on the market (back then) that could relieve the inflamation. It was like a miracle allowing me to again tie my shoes etc but the side affect has left me now with a severe hearing loss down into the speech area. I wear $5000+ hearing aids that help alot but the next step (down) is a cochlea implant.

So I just wear my hearing aids and turn them off for shooting. No better sound suppression then a couple ear molds fitted to your ear. I've never worn hearing protection hunting but always do at the range.

And it will be interesting in years to come seeing how many young deaf people there will be from listening to the pounding rap music in their cars. When they have the windows shut and I can hear (and feel!) that pounding a block away they are destroying their hearing.

One of the posts indicated that hearing loss can be caused by meds. Dang! I just looked up the list of meds that can cause tinnitus and I am taking TWO of 'em. Crap!!! Time to talk to the doc and get her to prescribe me something else!

I've always wondered why I started getting tinnitus 'cause I'm pretty good with hearing protection. I usually double up! Grrr... Well, thank goodness for this forum. Still learning something new every day.

I am lefty, about 15 or 20 yrs back I had test my hear loss, 35% the left one and about 18 % the right one. At early age I shoot .22 and shootguns without protection, and according to the doctor this could made a lot of irreversible dammage. As I started shooting pistol and hi power rifle I always wear protection, and now double protection... except when hunting, but the dammage is done: both my hears ring all the time....

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